1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an integral data storage disk card and, more particularly, to a high density data card comprising both a data storage disk and a visually discernible information bearing area.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Personal data or record cards have found many uses in today's society such as personal identification cards or badges, medical record cards, and financial record cards to name only a few. The uses for such personal data cards are varied and well known in the art and such cards may be made in a variety of sizes and shapes the most familiar of which is the standard wallet size card. Such personal record cards generally include a visually discernible information bearing surface which may be in either machine or human readable form. In human readable form the information may contain a pictorial image of the card holder as well as identifying textual information relating to the card holder's name, address, place of business, etc. In machine readable form the information bearing surface may comprise bar codes, holograms, etc. for security purposes. Further personal data relating to such matters as financial or medical history may also be included on the card on a magnetic and/or optical data storage area as is well known in the art. Recording personal data on an optical storage area allows for a substantially greater volume of personal data to be recorded than is otherwise possible on a magnetic data storage area. However, cards having optical storage areas are vulnerable to scratches and dust occurring on the optical storage area particularly when such cards are frequently carried and handled by the user.
Therefore, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a personal data card that can store data optically without risk of scratches or dust occurring on the optical data storage area despite frequent carrying and handling by the user.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a personal optical data storage card that may be utilized with read/write apparatus of the type designed for use with data storage disks as is well known in the art.
Other objects of the invention will be in part obvious and will in part appear hereinafter. The invention accordingly comprises a mechanism and system possessing the construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which are exemplified in the following detailed disclosure.